Monday, November 29, 2010

MSU Students Stage a Sit-In

As SAPAC has mentioned before, a woman was raped by two Michigan State University basketball players this August. Disgustingly, despite the corroboration of the woman's story by one of the perpetrators, the Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III did not charge the players. When the university's Coalition Against Sexual Violence protested at the school's "Midnight Madness," a basketball pep rally, they were shouted down, attacked and forced to leave.

Most importantly, the university itself has not taken any action whatsoever, including making a statement condemning the rape. The Coalition finally staged a sit-in at President Lou Anna K Simmon's office on November 19th. After about 20 minutes of chanting "Silence is Betrayal," an administrator finally agreed to meet with the protesters on the spot.

Chief among their demands was that the university match the recent $500,000 raise for the basketball coach with funds for sexual assault prevention and education. The university already has mandatory education (my sister is one of the educators), but there are no consequences for not attending, no way for anyone in authority to know if an individual has completed it, and it is FULL of students yelling rape apologist bullshit (and y'all know how I feel about rape apology). Take a little money away from basketball (it already brings in a ton, you can spare it) and give your programs a little teeth!